The Ontario Court of Appeal’s affirmation of a $1.5 million punitive damages award — reportedly the largest award of its kind in a Canadian long-term disability case — may signal greater exposure for employers and insurers that fail in their duty to treat such claims in good faith. “The court had no problem with the […]
In a bid to improve working conditions for people who deliver food and offer rides through smartphone apps, the European Union gave provisional approval Wednesday to rules that determine who should get the benefits of full-time employees and restrict the way online platforms use algorithms to manage their workers. The European Parliament and the EU’s […]
As Ontario prepares to introduce pay transparency legislation, it’s important for employers to consider how much information they want to share in job postings, says Darcy Clark, a principal at Normandin Beaudry. “They could do just enough to meet the legislative requirements or . . . full disclosure where everybody knows everything. There’s also a […]
An article on the federal government’s 2023 fall economic statement was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com over the last week. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. Feds consider end of ‘30% rule’ for pensions, propose EI adoption benefit: fall economic statement 2. Former federal finance minister defends ‘sustainably successful’ CPP amid Alberta pension […]
Pay transparency legislation is quickly gathering steam in Canada as provincial governments take steps towards shrinking the gender wage gap. Prince Edward Island was first to the post with pay transparency provisions in June 2022. While Newfoundland and Labrador’s Pay Equity and Transparency Act received royal assent in November 2022, its pay transparency provisions haven’t […]
British Columbia is introducing new protections for ride-hailing and food delivery app workers including a minimum wage, compensation for expenses and other standards. A minimum hourly wage of $20.10, which is $3.35 more than the current general minimum wage, would apply for a gig worker’s ‘engaged time,’ beginning when they accept an assignment to the […]
Under new legislation announced Monday, Ontario employers could soon be required to include salary ranges in job postings and disclose if artificial intelligence is part of their hiring process. “It’s an unacceptable reality that women today in Ontario earn an average of 87 cents for every dollar earned by men,” said Labour Minister David Piccini […]
While many institutional investors participate in class action lawsuits against investee companies to recover assets lost due to malfeasance, others do so to be activists, according to W. Mark McNair, a securities litigation lawyer at Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP. Plan sponsors that have suffered a significant loss may file a claim to signal to […]
New amendments to the Canada Labour Code will exempt some employees from the legislation’s hours-of-work requirements. “These amendments are a rare example of changes that employers in the federal sector will welcome and, in some respects, [will] align the CLC to Ontario’s Employment Standards Act,” says Landon Young, managing partner of Stringer LLP, a labour […]
The state of Georgia will start paying for gender affirmation care for state employees, public school teachers and former employees covered by a state health insurance plan, settling the latest lawsuit aimed at forcing state agencies to pay for surgery and other procedures. The plaintiffs moved to dismiss their case last Thursday in Atlanta federal […]